System and method for automated content labeling

ABSTRACT

An automated content labeling system is disclosed. An example embodiment is configured to: register a plurality of labelers to which annotation tasks are assigned; populate a labeling queue with content data to be annotated; assign annotation tasks from the labeling queue to the plurality of labelers; and provide a superpixel annotation tool enabling the plurality of labelers to configure a size of a segment cluster in an image of the content data, and select each segment cluster to be included in a segmentation feature with a specified object class, the segment clusters including similarly colored pixels from the image.

PRIORITY PATENT APPLICATION

This non-provisional patent application draws priority from U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/054,119; filed Jul. 20, 2020.The entire disclosure of the referenced patent application is consideredpart of the disclosure of the present application and is herebyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever. The following notice applies to the disclosure hereinand to the drawings that form a part of this document: Copyright2019-2020, Labelbox, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This patent document pertains generally to data processing, machinelearning and artificial intelligence (AI) systems, content annotation,data communication networks, and more particularly, but not by way oflimitation, to a system and method for automated content labeling.

BACKGROUND

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) systems are becomingincreasingly popular and useful for processing data and augmenting orautomating human decision making in a variety of applications. Forexample, images and image analysis are increasingly being used forautonomous vehicle control and simulation, among many other uses. Imagesare one form of content data or assets that can be used to train an AIsystem. Other AI applications can include other transportationapplications, medical, agriculture, insurance, manufacturing, finance,construction, and many others. Other forms of content data or assetsused to train an AI system in these applications can include images,textual content, numerical content, audio data, chemical or organicsignatures, and the like. However, AI systems only operate as well asthe content data on which they are trained. An improperly orinsufficiently trained AI system can create significant problems ifdeployed in a real-world operational environment. These problems canmanifest themselves in at least two ways: lack of training content data,and lack of good quality training content data. Many machine learningalgorithms require large amounts of training data before they begin toproduce useful results. One example of a machine learning system is aneural network. Neural networks are data processing systems that requirecopious amounts of training data to become useful for operationaldeployment.

Producing large volumes of good quality training data for an AI systemcan be a difficult task. An important aspect of this task, for examplewhen image content is needed for AI system training, is to identify orlabel objects in sets of received training images or video feeds(assets). The identification and location of objects labeled orannotated in the images can be useful for configuring an AI system.However, it can be very difficult to automate the process of imageanalysis and object labeling. Variations in image quality, labelersubjectivity, environmental conditions, and data processingcapabilities, among other conditions, can hinder the image analysis andobject labeling process. One approach for producing training contentdata is to annotate objects in the training images with one or morelabels. The labeled objects can then be classified and further processedto determine location, movement, or other features. This image andobject annotation can be performed manually by people who view eachimage and annotate the objects they see in the images. However,conventional manual approaches to annotating images are time-consuming,financially untenable, and prone to inconsistencies resulting fromviewers' subjectivities. Automated approaches have also been developed.These automated approaches can be significantly more efficient thanmanual ones and can be scaled accordingly. Unfortunately, currentautomated approaches to annotating images produce many mis-labeledobjects. Consequently, it can be very difficult, expensive, andtime-consuming, to generate large volumes of good quality training datafor an AI system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not byway of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example embodiment of the automated contentlabeling platform as described herein within an AI ecosystem;

FIG. 2 illustrates a process in an example embodiment of the automatedcontent labeling platform for reviewing and relabeling a content item inthe automated content labeling;

FIG. 3 illustrates a process in an example embodiment of the automatedcontent labeling platform for model-assisted labeling;

FIG. 4 illustrates a process in an example embodiment of the automatedcontent labeling platform for a real-time human-in-the-loop labelingworkflow;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of assets in an automated labeling queueof the automated content labeling platform;

FIGS. 6 through 8 illustrate an example of prioritization of assets inan automated labeling queue of the automated content labeling platform;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of the segmentation tool of the automatedcontent labeling platform;

FIG. 10 is a process flow diagram illustrating an example embodiment ofa system and method for implementing an automated content labeling;

FIG. 11 illustrates an example embodiment of a networked system in whichvarious embodiments may operate;

FIG. 12 illustrates another example embodiment of a networked system inwhich various embodiments may operate; and

FIG. 13 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions whenexecuted may cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the various embodiments. It will be evident, however,to one of ordinary skill in the art that the various embodiments may bepracticed without these specific details.

An automated content labeling system is disclosed. In the variousexample embodiments disclosed herein, an automated content labelingsystem can be implemented to generate enterprise grade training datawith fast AI enabled labeling tools, labeling automation, humanworkforce, data management, and a powerful application programminginterface (API) for integration and extensibility. As a result, theexample embodiments disclosed herein enable teams to build and operateproduction grade machine learning systems. FIG. 1 illustrates an exampleembodiment of the automated content labeling platform as describedherein within an AI ecosystem.

In an example embodiment, a user of the automated content labelingsystem can create a labeling project. Each project is a training datamanagement environment where the user can manage the performance,quality, and progress of the labeling project. In other exampleembodiments, the user can create a project programmatically using any ofa variety of supported computer programming languages.

An example embodiment provides users with several important metrics toassess the progress of a labeling project. A user interface of theautomated content labeling system provides a progress table, which showsa variety of project metrics including the quantity of labels submitted,remaining, skipped, and the total percentage completed. A user can alsotoggle in the user interface between overall (all users contributing tothis project) and only the individual user's contributions. A labelscreated chart in the user interface shows the quantity of labels createdover time. A user can toggle in the user interface between a daily,weekly, and monthly view. A training data quality section contains areviews table, where the user can see the total number of un-reviewed,accepted, declined, or ambiguous labels. A coverage metric shows theproportion of total labeled assets to be reviewed. An object count tableshows the total number of counts of each object and its percentage outof the total object counts. For example, if one out of 13 total objectsis “Bird” in a labeled dataset, “Bird” would make up 8% of the totalobjects in the dataset. A dataset can correspond to one or more contentdata assets. A classification answers chart shows the number of eachclassification answer in the dataset.

The labels by collaborator metric shows the label count completed byeach user. From a labels tab, a user can see activity of labeled images,label predictions on unlabeled images, and the queue of unlabeledimages. In an activity table of the user interface, a user can see acomplete list of all submitted labels in a project. A user can choosefrom a dropdown list of filters to narrow down the user's searchresults. The activity section is also where a user can access an openreview feature by clicking on any of the labels in the list.

An example embodiment keeps track of label and review time and displaysthe timing in two separate columns within the activity table for eachdata row. The label time column indicates the total time the creator ofthe label spends viewing or editing an un-submitted label in thelabeling interface. The timer starts when the image is fully loaded andstops when the user clicks “skip”, “submit”, or exits out of thelabeling interface. To ensure idle time is not captured, the timerautomatically pauses when the user is inactive on the user interface for30 seconds and resumes when the user interacts with the keyboard ormouse or refreshes the page. If the user goes back to a previous labelin the queue, the timer resumes after three seconds and the time isadded to the label time for that data row.

A review time column indicates the total time all users who did notcreate the label view, edit, or review the submitted label in reviewmode. When an image or other content data undergoes review, the timerstarts when the label loads and stops when the user moves on to the nextlabel in the annotation review queue.

The queue table shows the labeling queue, which consists of thefollowing in an example embodiment: 1) unlabeled assets, and 2) assetsthat had labels, but were deleted because they needed to be relabeled.Assets in the queue are distributed among the registered labelers unlessthe asset is specifically reserved (indicated by a “Reserved by” field).A reserved asset will become unreserved if it is not labeled within 90minutes of being reserved. A performance tab metric is where a user canview the average metrics across all labelers or drill down intoindividual performance for label time or review time.

From a settings tab of the user interface, a user can attach/removedatasets, modify the configuration of the label editor (part of the userinterface), manage members, adjust percentage of labels to be reviewed,and delete a project.

In the Datasets section of the user interface, a complete list ofdatasets a user can attach to and detach from a user's project is shown.Datasets are sets of assets, which can be labeled by the user. To add orremove data rows from a dataset, the user can click on a dataset andselect which data rows to add or remove. When a user adds additionalassets to a dataset, the dataset will automatically be added to thelabeling queue. When a dataset is detached/removed from a project, alllabels created against that dataset will remain in the project and allunlabeled data will be removed from the queue.

In a label editor section of the user interface, a user can makemodifications to a label editor configuration. From a tools tab of a“Configure editor” window, a user can add and/or edit a user's ontologyfor the project. A user can also attach labeler instructions by clickingon the instructions tab. Having additional instructions can be helpfulif a user has a team of labelers who are working on a more complexlabeling project.

In a portion of the user interface related to labeling quality, a usercan adjust the percentage of a user project's images that a user wouldlike to be reviewed for quality of the labeling. In an exampleembodiment, a benchmarks tool is provided as a quality assurance (QA)tool for comparing labels on an asset to a “gold standard” or otherpre-defined labeling standard. In the example embodiment, a consensustool is also provided as a QA tool for comparing a label generated foran asset by a particular user to all other labels generated for theasset by other users. An example embodiment also provides model-assistedor automated labeling for a user's organization. Benchmarks, consensus,and model-assisted labeling are described in more detail below.

Example embodiments also support an ontology feature, which can beimportant for creating high-quality labeled content data with minimalerrors and inconsistencies. In an example embodiment, the ontology is atop-level entity that can be shared or copied across multiple projects,making the ontology useful for making cascading changes across projectsor using an existing ontology for a project as a starting point ratherthan starting from scratch. The ontology contains the objects andclassifications for labeling the content data in a specific project.When creating a new project, the user can create an ontology for the newproject in one of several ways:

-   -   Create a new ontology. Useful if the user is just starting out        or needs to create a new ontology completely from scratch.    -   Use a shared ontology. Useful if the user has multiple projects        that need to reference the ontology.    -   Create a copy of an existing ontology. Useful to enable the user        to create a copy of an existing ontology to use as a starting        point rather than creating a new ontology completely from        scratch.

An example embodiment enables a user to customize a labeling projectwith a set of customizable entities to create an ontology, which canfacilitate the object labeling for the project. These customizableentities and the ontology are described in more detail below.

Once a labeling project is created, the raw content data or assets forthe project can be imported into the automated content labelingplatform. The example embodiments provide tools to support the contentdata import process. In a particular embodiment, content data can beimported using manual or programmatic file uploads or JSON (JavaScriptObject Notation) file uploads. JSON is a lightweight data-interchangeformat that is easy for humans to read and write and easy for machinesto parse and generate. The example embodiment enables use of a JSON fileto specify all of the import information in the JSON file, such asmetadata, queue placement, and external identifier (ID).

After the labeling project has been populated with content data, a userinterface of the automated content labeling platform can prompt a userto begin processing through the content data and apply labels to objectsidentified in the content data. Tool bars enable the user to easilyselect an object class appropriate for the item identified in thecontent data. An objects menu shows all the objects the user has used tolabel the content data. An activity section of the user interfacedisplays the user's level of progress and labeling performance for allof the content data the user has already labeled. Object labels providedby the user can be submitted or exported in a variety of formats via theautomated content labeling platform.

An example embodiment provides a members feature that allows a user toinvite other individual users and to set the permission settings foreach member. If multiple users are collaborating on a project, theautomated content labeling platform can distribute the data to themembers with the appropriate access. Members typically get uniquecontent data for labeling. Multiple users can be enabled access to thesame content data to label the same data if the auto consensus feature(described below) is activated. The benefits of adding members include:projects are completed faster, projects are diversified across multiplelabelers, the performance of individual users can be monitored andmanaged, and the auto consensus feature can be used to compare theagreement for each of the labels across the multiple labelers andcalculate a consensus score. Auto consensus works in real time so userscan take immediate and corrective actions towards improving theirtraining data and model performance.

After one or multiple users have provided labels for particular contentdata, an example embodiment of the automated content labeling platformprovides tools and management of an annotation review queue or pipeline.The annotation review queue provides various features to maintain a highlevel of quality, conformity, and uniformity in the labels produced bythe labelers for a particular project. In an example embodiment, theannotation review queue provides a queue-based review and an openreview. A queue-based review refers to an interface of the automatedcontent labeling platform presented to users after an administrativeuser configures the review queue to randomly distribute labels forreview to a select group of users within a project. A user can performthe following actions in a queue-based review: 1) review a label andvote the previously-applied label up (approved/accepted) or down(disapproved/declined), or 2) modify the previously-applied label. Anopen review refers to a review interface of the automated contentlabeling platform presented to users after an administrative user clickson a row in the activity list within a project. The open review presentsa streamlined and transparent way to review, modify, copy, andre-enqueue labeled content data and track the labeling progress. A usercan perform the following actions in an open review mode: 1) modify areview, 2) modify a label, 3) copy a label URL, or 4) set a label as abenchmark.

In a particular example embodiment, the annotation review queue iscompletely separate and distinct from the labeling queue. In an exampleembodiment of the automated content labeling platform, the annotationreview queue is configured to abide by the following rules to ensurethat labeling and reviewing operations can happen concurrently whileeliminating the risk of users' interfering with each other's work: 1)only content data that have been labeled or skipped are entered into thereview queue; and 2) each labeled asset in a reviewer's queue is uniqueso that only one user may perform a review on a labeled image. A labelin the review queue can be reviewed by more than one user, but nevermore than once by the same user. Once a label is reviewed by thepredetermined number of users, via the queue-based review or openreview, the label will leave the review queue so the label will not bereviewed again. If a particular project does not need to have 100% ofthe project's labeled content data reviewed, the user can adjust thepercentage of labels to be reviewed by updating a settings interface. Inthis manner, the user can set the percentage of labels that will enterthe review queue. As part of the annotation review queue of an exampleembodiment, labels can be in one of several status conditions: 1)Un-reviewed—e.g., labels where upvotes and downvotes cancel each otherout; 2) Accepted—labels where the majority upvoted; 3) Declined—labelswhere the majority downvoted; and 4) Ambiguous—no reviews at all.

Referring to FIG. 2, sometimes a user may need to relabel a content dataitem because the label does not get approved in the label review process(described above), the project ontology has been adjusted, and/or theconsensus or benchmarks score (described below) for the label are lowerthan expected or allowed. In an example embodiment, a user can relabeland asset by: 1) selecting a labels tab of the user interface of theplatform, 2) select the data row the user wishes to relabel, and 3)delete the label. When deleting a label, the user has two options: a)delete the existing annotation, or 2) use the annotation as a templatefor the next person to label the asset. When a label on an asset isdeleted by a user, the asset is automatically added back to the labelqueue and randomly distributed to a member in a project to be relabeled.

Quality Assurance

An example embodiment of the automated content labeling platformprovides important additional tools to facilitate the quality assuranceof the asset labeling process. These additional tools include aconsensus and benchmarks feature with related scoring and workflowprocessing. These features of the example embodiment are describedbelow.

Consensus is a QA tool of the automated content labeling platform thatcompares a single label on an asset to all of the other labels on thatasset. Once an asset has been labeled more than once, a consensus scorecan be automatically calculated. The consensus score corresponds to amathematical level of conformity or agreement of the single label toother labels on the asset. Consensus works in real time so users cantake immediate and corrective actions towards improving their trainingdata and model performance.

Benchmarks is a QA tool of the automated content labeling platform thatautomatically compares all labels on an asset to a “gold standard” orother pre-defined labeling standard that can be pre-configured. Once anasset with a benchmark label gets a human- or computer-generated label,a benchmark score can be automatically calculated. To mark a label as abenchmark, the user can select a label and the selected label will bemarked with a gold star to indicate the label is a benchmark. Thebenchmark score corresponds to a mathematical level of conformity oragreement of the labels on an asset to a pre-defined and configurablelabeling standard.

In the example embodiment of the automated content labeling platform,the methodology for calculating the consensus score and the benchmarkscore is similar, except with regard to the entity to which the labelsare compared (e.g., the reference labels). The benchmarks feature isimplemented by interspersing data to be labeled, for which there is abenchmark label, to each person labeling (each labeler). These labeleddata are compared against their respective benchmark (e.g., thereference labels) and an accuracy score between 0 and 100 percent iscalculated. When a label is created or updated, the benchmarks score canbe recalculated as long as there is one label on the data row. If alabel gets deleted, no benchmark score will appear for that data row. Inan example embodiment, calculating conformity or agreement for thepolygons of a label relative to the reference label can include amathematical correlation calculation (e.g., a well-knownIntersection-over-Union process can be used to determine conformity oragreement) and a series of averages to determine the final level ofconformity or agreement between a label of an asset and a referencelabel.

In the example embodiment of the automated content labeling platform,there can be three global classification types supported for theconsensus and benchmarks features: radio, checklist, and dropdown. Thecalculation method for each classification type is different. Onecommonality, however, is that if two classifications of the same typeare compared and there are no corresponding selections between the twoclassifications at all, the level of conformity or agreement will be 0%.

A radio classification can only have one selected answer. Therefore, thelevel of conformity or agreement between two radio classifications willeither be 0% or 100%. 0% means no agreement and 100% means agreement.

A checklist classification can have more than one selected answer, whichmakes the agreement calculation a little more complex. The agreementbetween two checklist classifications is generated by dividing thenumber of overlapping answers by the number of selected answers.

A dropdown classification can have only one selected answer, however theanswer choices can be nested. The calculation for dropdown is similar tothat of checklist classification, except that the level of conformity oragreement calculation divides the number of overlapping answers by thetotal depth of the selection (how many levels). Answers nested underdifferent top-level classifications can still have overlap if theclassifications at the next level match. On the flip side, answers thatdo not match exactly can still have overlap if they are under the sametop-level classification.

An overview tab displays the consensus scores across all labels in theproject. The x-axis indicates the agreement percentage and the y-axisindicates the label count. A consensus column in the activity tablecontains the agreement score for each label and how many labels areassociated with that score. When a user clicks on the consensus icon,the activity table will automatically apply the correct filter to viewthe labels associated with that consensus score. When a user clicks onan individual labeler in the performance tab, the consensus columnreflects the average consensus score for that labeler.

Benchmark labels are marked with a gold star in the activity table undera labels tab. Under the labels tab, there is also a benchmarks tablewhere a user can see a list of all the benchmarks labels for thatproject. A “View Results” feature enables the user to see all labelsassociated with that benchmark label. When the benchmarks tool is activefor a particular project, the individual performance section under theperformance tab will display a benchmarks column that indicates theaverage benchmark score for that labeler.

Automation

An example embodiment of the automated content labeling platformprovides important tools to facilitate the automation of the assetlabeling process. In particular, the platform provides: a model-assistedlabeling workflow, a real-time human-in-the-loop labeling workflow, andan automated labeling queue system.

Referring to FIG. 3, the example embodiment of the automated contentlabeling platform provides a model-assisted labeling workflow. Themodel-assisted labeling workflow in the automated content labelingplatform allows a user to import computer-generated predictions and loadthem as editable features on an asset. This can be a useful tool forspeeding up the labeling process and supporting human labeling efforts.In the example embodiment, model-assisted labeling supports thefollowing label types: masks, bounding boxes, polygons, polylines, andpoints. The predictions can be imported into the platform in a varietyof formats including a newline delimited JSON (NDJSON) format. Eachprediction can be assigned a universal unique identifier (UUID). A maskprediction can include a mask color in the import file that should matchthe corresponding mask color on an asset image. Vector predictions,including those for a bounding box, polygon, point, and polylinepredictions, can be attached to a data row of an asset. When an asset isloaded in the labeling interface, any predictions for that asset willshow up as editable features for the user. Predictions can be loaded onan asset when the following conditions are met: the model-assistedlabeling feature is enabled, there are predictions created for the datarows, and there are no non-prediction annotations that have already beencreated by the user on the data rows.

Referring to FIG. 4, the example embodiment of the automated contentlabeling platform provides a real-time human-in-the-loop labelingworkflow. The real-time human-in-the-loop labeling workflow providessever benefits including: a quick turnaround time for labeling,integration of a continuous workflow for a labeling team, and use ofhuman-labeled data to train a computer model or other machine learningsystem. In the real-time human-in-the-loop labeling workflow, a team oflabelers receive a continuous flow of assets to label. If all assets arelabeled, the labelers will be advised to wait until new assets areavailable for labeling by the team members.

Additionally, FIG. 4 illustrates the use of model predictions as part ofthe workflow for the example embodiment of the automated contentlabeling platform. As part of training the machine learning (ML) modelshown in FIG. 4, training content data can be used to configure the MLmodel to recognize particular objects, features, or patterns in thecontent data being analyzed. For an example related to image content,image analysis can be used to identify objects or features of interestin the input image content. Based on the training of the ML model, theML model can produce predictions of the potential objects, features, orpatterns of interest in the content data being analyzed. Object masks ortemplates (e.g., predicted labels) can be generated from the predictionsproduced by the ML model. The predicted labels can be used to isolatethe features of interest from the remainder of the input content data.The predicted labels can facilitate and improve both an automatedlabeling workflow and a manual labeling workflow. However, because thequality of these predicted labels (e.g., predicted label qualitycorresponding to the likelihood that the predicted label producesaccurate object or feature classification results) can varysignificantly, the example embodiments provide processes for assigningconfidence levels to the predicted labels. These confidence levels forthe predicted labels can be generated from a variety of sources providedby the automated content labeling platform. For example, these sourcescan include: validation from another reviewing labeler, consensus from aplurality of labelers using the auto consensus process, comparisonagainst a benchmark, correlation to results produced by an automatedlabeling process (each described herein), or the like. Given theconfidence levels or other ranking criteria for the predicted labels asshown in FIG. 4, the predicted label confidence levels can be used tobifurcate the processing path used as part of the automated contentlabeling workflow. For example, predicted labels with high confidencelevels (e.g. at or above a pre-defined threshold) produced frompredictions by the ML model can be provided directly to a userapplication from the ML model. Predicted labels with low confidencelevels (e.g. below a pre-defined threshold) can be directed to a labelreview team, which can review the predicted label and modify or correctthe label to improve the label's corresponding confidence level. Oncecorrected by the label review team, the modified label can be providedto the user application. Thus, the process of assigning a confidencelevel to the predicted labels based on consensus or other workflowprocesses provided by an example embodiment and routing the processingof the predicted labels differently based on the confidence level is afeature provided by the automated content labeling platform as disclosedherein.

The automated content labeling platform also enables users to importpredicted labels into the platform. In this manner, a labeling team isable to validate or correct the imported predicted labels and todetermine the level of correlation between the labeling team and thepredictions produced by the ML model. An example embodiment alsoprovides an API to import human labeled data for QA review. Thepredicted labels produced from predictions by the ML model also provideseveral other benefits as well. The predicted labels can enable theautomated content labeling platform to give hints to the labelers or todirect their attention to portions of the content data that may be ofinterest. For example, the platform can automatically draw an initialbounding box around an area of interest in the content data. The labelercan adjust the automatically created bounding box to better fit anobject or feature in the content data. Additionally, based on thepredicted labels, the platform can automatically provide an initialsuggestion of one or more identifiers that may correspond to aparticular object or feature in the content data. The labeler can beprompted to pick an automatically suggested identifier or classificationcorresponding to the particular object or feature. In a particularexample of image content data representing a field with organicmaterial, the platform can use the predicted labels to prompt a labelerto identify portions of the organic material that are crops and otherportions that are weeds. Many other examples are also enabled by thepredicted labels produced from predictions by the ML model of theautomated content labeling platform.

Referring to FIG. 5, the example embodiment of the automated contentlabeling platform provides an automated labeling queue system. The queuesystem of the example embodiment enables a user to automate theprocesses of organizing and distributing content data to labelers andreviewers in a content labeling project. Each project can have one labelqueue and one optional review queue. When content data is added to alabeling project, those assets are added to the project's label queue.The members of the labeling team can then begin the process of labelingthe assets. Every time a label is skipped or submitted in the labelinginterface of the automated content labeling platform, the platformautomatically de-queues the label. The label queue can be rebuilt everytime the project consensus settings are changed, a dataset is attachedor detached from a project, a label is deleted, or the label queue isexplicitly rebuilt. When the review queue enabled, a pre-defined andcustomizable percentage of the labels of the project are added to thereview queue. As part of the review queue, administrative users can viewand modify previously reviewed labels by clicking on the data row fromthe activity table.

The automated content labeling platform of an example embodiment alsoprovides an application programming interface (API) to enablecustomization of the automated labeling queue system. By default, eachasset in the label queue will be labeled once. However, if a user needsa specific asset to be labeled more than once, the user can use the APIto target an individual asset and specify the number of times the assetshould get labeled. The automated content labeling platform willautomatically re-enter that asset into the label queue and redistributethe asset to active labelers until the asset has received the specifiednumber of labels or the asset has been submitted for labeling thespecified number of times.

If the user needs assets to appear in the label queue in a certainorder, the user can assign an individual priority score to each asset.The order of non-prioritized assets in the label queue is notguaranteed. Referring to FIG. 6 for a particular prioritization example,asset E will be labeled first, asset A will be second, and asset D willbe third.

If the user skips prioritization numbers when the prioritization orderis set, the label queue will default to the next asset in the priorityorder. Referring to FIG. 7 for another particular prioritizationexample, asset E will be labeled first, asset A will be second, andasset D will be third.

If the user assigns multiple assets with the same priority numberwithout rebuilding the label queue, the priority of the assets will beordered lexicographically. Referring to FIG. 8 for another particularprioritization example, asset B will be labeled first, asset E will besecond, asset A will be third, and asset D will be fourth.

The automated content labeling platform of an example embodimentdistributes assets from the label queue in batches to each activeindividual labeler. When a batch of assets is distributed to an activelabeler, the platform “checks out” those assets to that labeler. Oncethe individual's queue of reserved assets empties, the platformautomatically fills the individual's label queue with a new batch ofunlabeled assets. If a user starts labeling an asset, then is idle formore than 90 min or logs out, the platform will assign the asset toanother active labeler. However, if the original labeler signs back in,the reservation will be refreshed. This may result in two separatelabels on the same asset.

The automated content labeling platform of an example embodiment enablesusers to easily create, install, and configure a custom editor to lookand feel like the standard platform labeling interface. With a customeditor, for example, a user can label: point clouds, maps, medical DICOMimagery, multiple assets at once, or a variety of other types of contentdata types. The custom interface can be executed locally at a customersite or executed on a hosting server. The automated content labelingplatform of an example embodiment also provides APIs to customizecontent data imports, prediction imports, label queue or review queuecustomization, multi-step labeling, and label exports.

Automation Tools for Images

Referring to FIG. 9 and a segmentation tool of an example embodiment,each annotated pixel in an image belongs to a single class. Segmentationis often used to label images for applications that require highaccuracy. The output of the segmentation is a mask that outlines theshape of the object in the image. During project setup, a user can setup an ontology by adding all of the objects and classifications neededfor the particular project. The example embodiment of the automatedcontent labeling platform also provides a pen drawing tool designed tobe a fast way to outline objects in content data images. The pen drawingtool allows a user to draw freehand as well as straight lines. The usercan also use the pen tool to erase by clicking a (-) icon in the top barof the user interface. The user can hold Alt on the keyboard totemporarily switch to the erase mode while drawing.

Superpixel

The superpixel tool appears in the tool bar of the user interface when auser is using the segmentation tool. For segmentation features withcomplex boundaries, using the superpixel tool first may be moreefficient than using the pen tool alone. The superpixel feature works bycalculating segment clusters of similarly colored pixels in the image.The tool bar of the user interface provides a slider, which allows auser to increase or reduce the size of the segment clusters. A numbercorresponds to segment size; higher values will have larger segments andlower values will have smaller segments. After the user has selected theoptimal segment cluster size, the user can choose an object class anduse the cursor to select and classify each segment cluster to beincluded in that segmentation feature with the specified object class.The user can then adjust the boundaries of the segmentation featureusing an electronic pen tool and electronic eraser tools.

Drawing Over Existing Objects

A feature provided by an example embodiment enables a user to draw overexisting objects. With this tool, a user can overwrite existingsegmentation features. When this tool is enabled, a new segmentationfeature drawn over existing features will overlap the existing features,overwriting previously classified pixels. When this tool is disabled, anew segmentation feature drawn over existing features will be drawnbehind the existing features. This tool can significantly speed uplabeling time; because, it is not required to intricately outline aroundthe border of other objects.

Creating Object Instances

From the labeling user interface, a user can use the same class for morethan one annotation. For example, if there are five fish in an image andthe user would like to assign the “Fish” class to all five fish objects,the user can manipulate the user interface tools provided by an exampleembodiment to create multiple instances of the “Fish” class. The usercan use the following steps in an example embodiment to create multipleinstances of the same object: 1) select a class and draw the object; 2)select the same class again; and 3) draw the next instance of theobject.

Image Classification

In the example embodiment of the automated content labeling platform,there are two ways to configure the object classification tool:classification only and nested classification of an object. The user canuse the following steps in an example embodiment to set up an objectclassification after the user creates a project and uploads image data(content data): bypass the “Add Object” step; 2) add a classificationquestion(s) for the object classification; 3) select an answer choicetype and add answer(s); and 4) click “Confirm”.

The example embodiment also provides functionality for nestedclassifications. If the user has configured the interface to have nestedclassifications for any objects, the user interface of the exampleembodiment will present the labeler with classification questions afterthe annotation of the object. The user can use the following steps in anexample embodiment to set up a nested object classification: 1) click“Add Object”; 2) name the object and choose a labeling tool from thedropdown menu; 3) click on the right arrow on the object to open thesettings for that object; 4) add a classification question(s); 5) selectanswer choice type and add answer(s); and 6) click “Done”.

In an example embodiment, the classification tool produces a semanticclassification, but may not include any geometric annotation or pixelclassification information. In the example embodiment, there are fourways or formats for labelers to provide a value for a classification:radio, checklist, dropdown, and free-form text.

A user can use the radio format if the user would like a labeler tochoose a single answer from a selection of answer choices. The nestedradio format allows the labeler to select multiple answers from a nestedtaxonomy.

A user can use the checklist or dropdown format if the user would like alabeler to choose multiple answers from a selection of answer choices.The nested dropdown allows labelers to select answers from a nestedtaxonomy.

A user can use the text classification format if the user would like alabeler to enter a free-form text answer in response to a classificationquestion. There are various cases where it may be beneficial to usefree-form text input, such as for optical character recognition (OCR)tasks. Often OCR tasks use the bounding box tool along with the nestedfree-form text classification tool.

Bounding boxes can also be used to identify an object in content data.Bounding boxes are created by marking the two opposite corners of a box.A polygon tool can be used to create geometric annotations by drawinglines between points. Polyline annotations are continuous lines made ofone or more line segments and the entire line is treated as one object.Polylines are typically used to annotate open shapes; because, theydon't have to be closed like polygons do. A point tool can be used toannotate a single x, y coordinate in an image.

An example embodiment also supports multi-frame bounding boxes.Multi-frame bounding boxes can be used to identify an object in contentdata. With multi-frame bounding boxes, a user can apply a bounding boxto a series of frames and manipulate the size and the position of thebounding box across the frame sequence. The user can also add nestedradio and checklist classifications to objects. There are three maincomponents to multi-frame bounding boxes: 1) the selected frames topersist the bounding box; 2) the size of the bounding box; and 3) thebounding box position on the frame(s). A keyframe is a frame on thetimeline where a change occurs. Interpolated (tweened) frames are theones between two keyframes. The example embodiment can be configured touse interpolation to incrementally adjust the size and position ofbounding boxes between keyframes. A user can apply a bounding box at asingle keyframe. By default, when a user applies a bounding box when asingle frame is selected, that bounding box will persist with the samesize and position across all subsequent frames until the end of thevideo. A user can also apply a bounding box to a set of frames. When theuser selects a set of frames on a timeline presented to the user via theuser interface and applies a bounding box to the selection, the boundingbox will persist with the same size and position across each frame inthe selection. When an item in a video goes out of frame and thenreappears one or more frames later, the user can use a toggle icon toturn on/off the bounding box for that item. A user can also copy andpaste a bounding box from one frame to another. The position and size ofthe copied bounding box are preserved. A new bounding box instance iscreated out of the copied object and, by default, the bounding box willpersist until the last frame in the video. When a user changes theposition/size of the bounding box in the middle of the sequence, theexample embodiment can use interpolation (also known as tweening) toincrementally adjust the bounding box to its new position/size. Theupdated bounding box position/size will persist until the end of thesequence. When the user adjusts the size and/or position of a boundingbox between two already interpolated keyframes, the example embodimentcan interpolate the frames to adjust for the newly inserted keyframe.The user can also delete the entire instance of the bounding box inevery frame in which the bounding box appears.

An example embodiment also supports multi-frame point annotations, forusers annotating very detailed objects and their movement in a video,the multi-frame point tool provides more granularity than themulti-frame bounding box tool. With the multi-frame point tool, a usercan apply a point to a series of frames and adjust the position of thepoint across the frame sequence. The user can also add nested radio andchecklist classifications to point objects in the ontology. In anexample embodiment, there are two main components for creatingmulti-frame points: 1) the selected frames to persist the point; and 2)the point position on the frames. A keyframe is a frame on the timelinewhere a change occurs. Interpolated (tweened) frames are the onesbetween two keyframes. The example embodiment uses interpolation toincrementally adjust the position of a point between two keyframes. Whena keyframe is created, a white dot on the frame distinguishes keyframesfrom all other frames.

A user can apply a point at a single keyframe. By default, when a userapplies a point when a single frame is selected, that point will persistat the same position across all subsequent frames until the end of thevideo. A user can apply a point to a set of frames. When a user selectsa set of frames on a timeline presented by the user interface andapplies a point to the selection, the point will persist at the sameposition across each frame in the selection. When an item in the videogoes out of frame then reappears one or more frames later, the user canuse a toggle icon to turn on/off the point for that item. The toggleon/off feature is available when a single frame is selected. When theuser copies and pastes a point from one frame to another, the copiedpoint will be pasted at the same position. A new point instance iscreated out of the copied object and, by default, the point will persistuntil the last frame in the video. When the user selects one or multipleframes, the user can adjust the position of a point in the frameselection. When these changes are made, the example embodiment treatsthe selected frame(s) as a new keyframe or group, and interpolates thepoint's position between any preceding and following keyframes. When auser changes the position of a point in the middle of the sequence, theexample embodiment can uses interpolation (also known as tweening) toincrementally adjust the point to its new position. The updated pointposition will persist until the end of the sequence. When a user adjuststhe position of a point between two already interpolated keyframes, theexample embodiment can interpolate the point to adjust for the newlyinserted keyframe. The user can also delete the entire instance of thepoint in every frame in which the point appears.

Text Classification

Natural Language Processing (NLP) is an area of research and applicationthat explores how to use computers to “understand” and manipulatenatural language, such as text or speech. Most NLP techniques rely onmachine learning to derive meaning from human languages. One of NLP'smethodologies for processing natural language is text classification, amethod that leverages deep learning to categorize sequences ofunstructured text. Here are some ways to use text classification:classify user sentiment in a review; flag inappropriate content;optimize marketing efforts; etc.

Named entity recognition (NER) is an information extraction techniquefor classifying words or phrases from unstructured text aspre-categorized entities. NER is often used for search algorithms,recommendation systems, and applications that require automaticcategorization of text. Many real-world applications even require theuse of computer vision and NER to work in conjunction. With the NERlabeling tool of an example embodiment, a user can import text data,label text strings in an editor of the example embodiment, and easilyexport the text labels. The NER tool of an example embodiment can benested within the Editor. A user can access the tool by creating aproject, importing textual content data, and choosing “Editor” as thelabeling interface. If the user has access to NER, the user will see an“Entity” tool when the user is in the “Configure editor” step. The usercan follow the steps below for importing text data and choosing the“Entity” tool to configure the text labeling project. The user canformat the import text file. Each data row can contain a data field,which specifies the text string to label. After the user has importedthe text data, the user can: 1) select “Editor” as the labelinginterface; 2) In “Configure editor”, the user can select “Entity” as theobject type—like objects and classifications, entities are a kind offeature in the platform of an example embodiment, except these kinds offeatures are specific to labeling text data. To label the text data, theuser can: select the tool from the left sidebar; and highlight the textto assign an entity (must be in this order). To delete, the user canclick on the entity and select the “Delete” menu item. The user canclick skip or submit to go to the next task.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a flow diagram illustrates an exampleembodiment of a system and method 1000 for automated content labeling.The example embodiment can be configured for: registering a plurality oflabelers to which annotation tasks are assigned (processing block 1010);populating a labeling queue with content data to be annotated(processing block 1020); assigning annotation tasks from the labelingqueue to the plurality of labelers (processing block 1030); andproviding a superpixel annotation tool enabling the plurality oflabelers to configure a size of a segment cluster in an image of thecontent data, and select each segment cluster to be included in asegmentation feature with a specified object class, the segment clustersincluding similarly colored pixels from the image (processing block1040).

FIG. 11 illustrates an example embodiment of a networked system in whichvarious embodiments may operate. Referring now to FIG. 11 in an exampleembodiment, an automated content annotation system 200 can beimplemented as described herein to support the automation of the contentlabeling. In the example embodiment, the automated content annotationsystem 200 can include an annotation management module 210 as describedabove. Additionally, the automated content annotation system 200 caninclude a portal processing module 220 to provide user interfaces,dashboards, administrative controls, and interfaces for managing thelabelers and for interfacing with the annotation management module 210of the automated content annotation system 200.

In the example embodiment as shown in FIG. 11, the automated contentannotation system 200 can be deployed on a central server or host site(e.g., a website) 110 to provide a system and method for automatedcontent annotation management. For many on-site labeling projects, ashared server (not shown) can be provided and interfaced with centralserver 110. For off-site labeling projects, a deployment in the clientenvironment, such as an application (app), can be provided andinterfaced with central server 110. Users at the client sites (120, 135,and 140) can be provisioned with and can provide the credentials toaccess the app and/or the server 110. All configuration for tools can bemanaged via a user interface. Users, including administrative personnel,can have the option to view app metrics data based on their user roles.In various example embodiments, the automated content annotation system200 can be hosted by the host site 110 for a networked user at any ofthe client sites (120, 135, and 140), wherein any of the client sites(120 and 135) can be implemented as a user platform 140. The details ofthe automated content annotation system 200 and client sites (120, 135,and 140) for an example embodiment are provided herein.

Referring again to FIG. 11, the automated content annotation system 200can be in network communication with a plurality of client sites (120,135, and 140). These client sites can include labeling platforms 120 andsystem administrative platforms 135. The labeling platforms 120 caninclude access portals for content annotation personnel to performcontent annotation tasks. The system administrative platforms 135 caninclude access portals for system administrative personnel to create newaccounts or projects, to view the status metrics and trends, and causethe generation of status metrics, trend data, and notifications foron-going labeling workflows.

The automated content annotation system 200 can be configured to providedata communications for the user platforms 140 serving as networkedplatforms for labelers at labeling platforms 120 and systemadministrators at system administrative platforms 135. The automatedcontent annotation system 200 can provide content and related annotationinformation in a digital or computer-readable form to these userplatforms 140 via the network 115. The automated content annotationsystem 200 be also be configured to provide data communications for thetraining system platforms 145 to enable the networked usage, transfer,or downloading of the annotation data for training an AI application.

One or more of the labeling platforms 120 can be provided by one or morethird party providers operating at various locations in a networkecosystem. The labeling platforms 120 and the system administrativeplatforms 135 can be implemented from a variety of different types ofclient devices, such as user platforms 140. The user platforms 140 maycommunicate and transfer data and information in the data networkecosystem shown in FIG. 11 via a wide area data network (e.g., theInternet) 115. Various components of the host site 110 can alsocommunicate internally via a conventional intranet or local area network(LAN) 114.

Networks 115 and 114 are configured to couple one computing device withanother computing device. Networks 115 and 114 may be enabled to employany form of computer readable media for communicating information fromone electronic device to another. Network 115 can include the Internetin addition to LAN 114, wide area networks (WANs), direct connections,such as through a universal serial bus (USB) port, other forms ofcomputer-readable media, or any combination thereof. On aninterconnected set of LANs, including those based on differingarchitectures and protocols, a router and/or gateway device acts as alink between LANs, enabling messages to be sent between computingdevices. Also, communication links within LANs typically include twistedwire pair or coaxial cable, while communication links between networksmay utilize analog telephone lines, full or fractional dedicated digitallines including T1, T2, T3, and T4, Integrated Services Digital Networks(ISDNs), Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), wireless links includingsatellite links, or other communication links known to those of ordinaryskill in the art. Furthermore, remote computers and other relatedelectronic devices can be remotely connected to either LANs or WANs viaa wireless link, WiFi, Bluetooth™, satellite, or modem and temporarytelephone link.

The labeling platforms 120 and system administrative platforms 135 mayproduce and consume any of a variety of network transportable digitaldata. The network transportable digital data can be transported in anyof a family of file formats and associated mechanisms usable to enable ahost site 110 to exchange data with the labeling platforms 120 and thesystem administrative platforms 135.

In a particular embodiment, a user platform 140 with one or more clientdevices enables a user to access data provided by the automated contentannotation system 200 via the host 110 and network 115. Client devicesof user platform 140 may include virtually any computing device that isconfigured to send and receive information over a network, such asnetwork 115. Such client devices may include portable devices 144, suchas, cellular telephones, smart phones, camera phones, Personal DigitalAssistants (PDAs), handheld computers, wearable computers, tabletcomputers, integrated devices combining one or more of the precedingdevices, and the like. The client devices may also include othercomputing devices, such as personal computers 142, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,network PC's, and the like. The client devices may also include otherprocessing devices, such as consumer electronic (CE) devices 146 and/ormobile computing devices 148, which are known to those of ordinary skillin the art. As such, the client devices of user platform 140 may rangewidely in terms of capabilities and features. Moreover, the web-enabledclient device may include a browser application enabled to receive andto send wireless application protocol messages (WAP), and/or wiredapplication messages, and the like. In one embodiment, the browserapplication is enabled to employ HyperText Markup Language (HTML),Dynamic HTML, Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML), Wireless MarkupLanguage (WML), WMLScript, JavaScript™, EXtensible HTML (xHTML), CompactHTML (CHTML), and the like, to display and/or send digital information.In other embodiments, mobile devices can be configured with applications(apps) with which the functionality described herein can be implemented.

Referring again to FIG. 11, the automated content annotation system 200of an example embodiment is shown to include an automated contentannotation system database 112. The database 112 can be used to retain avariety of information data sets including, but not limited to, contentsource information, metadata, annotation data, labeler data, status,metrics, and the like. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art that the automated content annotation system database 112 can belocally resident at the host site 110 or remotely located at otherserver locations or stored in network cloud storage.

Referring again to FIG. 11, host site 110 of an example embodiment isshown to include the automated content annotation system 200. In anexample embodiment, automated content annotation system 200 can includean annotation management module 210 and a portal processing module 220.Each of these modules can be implemented as software componentsexecuting within an executable environment of automated contentannotation system 200 operating on host site 110 or user platform 140.The annotation automation and user interfaces implemented by each ofthese modules of an example embodiment is described in detail above inconnection with the figures provided herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates another example embodiment 101 of a networked systemin which various embodiments may operate. In the example embodimentillustrated, the host site 110 is shown to include the automated contentannotation system 200. The automated content annotation system 200 isshown to include the annotation management module 210 and the portalprocessing module 220, as described above. In a particular embodiment,the host site 110 may also include a web server 904, having a webinterface with which users may interact with the host site 110 via auser interface or web interface. The host site 110 may also include anapplication programming interface (API) 902 with which the host site 110may interact with other network entities on a programmatic or automateddata transfer level. The API 902 and web interface 904 may be configuredto interact with the automated content annotation system 200 eitherdirectly or via an interface 906. The automated content annotationsystem 200 may be configured to access a data storage device 112 eitherdirectly or via the interface 906.

FIG. 13 shows a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system, mobile computing system, and/or communicationsystem 700 within which a set of instructions when executed and/orprocessing logic when activated may cause the machine to perform any oneor more of the methodologies described and/or claimed herein. Inalternative embodiments, the machine operates as a standalone device ormay be connected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the machine may operate in the capacity of a server or aclient machine in server-client network environment, or as a peermachine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed) network environment. Themachine may be a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a tabletcomputing system, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a cellulartelephone, a smartphone, a mobile device, a web appliance, or anymachine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential orotherwise) or activating processing logic that specifies actions to betaken by that machine. Further, while only a single machine isillustrated, the term “machine” can also be taken to include anycollection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (ormultiple sets) of instructions or processing logic to perform any one ormore of the methodologies described and/or claimed herein.

The example computer system, mobile computing system, and/orcommunication system 700 includes a data processor 702 (e.g., aSystem-on-a-Chip (SoC), general processing core, graphics core, andoptionally other processing logic) and a memory 704, which cancommunicate with each other via a bus or other data transfer system 706.The computer system, mobile computing system, and/or communicationsystem 700 may further include various input/output (I/O) devices and/orinterfaces 710, such as a touchscreen display and optionally a networkinterface 712. In an example embodiment, the network interface 712 caninclude one or more radio transceivers configured for compatibility withany one or more standard wireless and/or cellular protocols or accesstechnologies (e.g., 2nd (2G), 2.5, 3rd (3G), 4th (4G), 5th (5G)generation, and future generation radio access for cellular systems,Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet RadioServices (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA), LTE, CDMA2000, WLAN, Wireless Router(WR) mesh, and the like). Network interface 712 may also be configuredfor use with various other wired and/or wireless communicationprotocols, including TCP/IP, UDP, SIP, SMS, RTP, WAP, CDMA, TDMA, UMTS,UWB, WiFi, WiMax, Bluetooth™, IEEE 802.11x, and the like. In essence,network interface 712 may include or support virtually any wired and/orwireless communication mechanisms by which information may travelbetween the computer system, mobile computing system, and/orcommunication system 700 and another computing or communication systemvia network 714.

The memory 704 can represent a machine-readable medium on which isstored one or more sets of instructions, software, firmware, or otherprocessing logic (e.g., logic 708) embodying any one or more of themethodologies or functions described and/or claimed herein. The logic708, or a portion thereof, may also reside, completely or at leastpartially within the processor 702 during execution thereof by thecomputer system, mobile computing system, and/or communication system700. As such, the memory 704 and the processor 702 may also constitutemachine-readable media. The logic 708, or a portion thereof, may also beconfigured as processing logic or logic, at least a portion of which ispartially implemented in hardware. The logic 708, or a portion thereof,may further be transmitted or received over a network 714 via thenetwork interface 712. While the machine-readable medium of an exampleembodiment can be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium”should be taken to include a single non-transitory medium or multiplenon-transitory media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database,and/or associated caches and computing systems) that stores the one ormore sets of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” can alsobe taken to include any non-transitory medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by themachine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the various embodiments, or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with sucha set of instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” canaccordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-statememories, optical media, and magnetic media.

As described herein for various example embodiments, a system and methodfor automated content labeling are disclosed. In the various exampleembodiments described herein, a computer-implemented tool or softwareapplication (app) as part of an automated content annotation system isdescribed to automate and improve content annotation. As such, thevarious embodiments as described herein are necessarily rooted incomputer and network technology and serve to improve these technologieswhen applied in the manner as presently claimed. In particular, thevarious embodiments described herein improve the use of servers ormobile device technology and data network technology in the context ofautomated content annotation via electronic means.

The Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to allow the reader toquickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It issubmitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpretor limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in theforegoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features aregrouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamliningthe disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted asreflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require morefeatures than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as thefollowing claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than allfeatures of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claimsare hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claimstanding on its own as a separate embodiment.

1. An automated content labeling system, the system comprising: a dataprocessor; and an automated content labeling platform, executable by thedata processor, the automated content labeling platform being configuredto: register a plurality of labelers to which annotation tasks areassigned; populate a labeling queue with content data to be annotated;assign annotation tasks from the labeling queue to the plurality oflabelers, the annotation tasks having associated datasets representingsets of content data to be annotated by the plurality of labelers;prompt each of the plurality of labelers to begin processing through thedatasets and apply labels to objects identified in the content data; andprovide a segmentation tool enabling the plurality of labelers toconfigure a size of a segment cluster in an image of the content data,and select each segment cluster to be included in a segmentation featurewith a specified object class, the segment clusters including similarlycolored pixels from the image.
 2. The automated content labeling systemof claim 1 being further configured to provide an electronic pen tooland an electronic eraser tool enabling a labeler of the plurality oflabelers to adjust boundaries of the segmentation feature.
 3. Theautomated content labeling system of claim 1 being further configured toprovide a tool to overwrite the segmentation feature.
 4. The automatedcontent labeling system of claim 1 being further configured to enable alabeler of the plurality of labelers to create multiple instances ofobject annotations with a same class designation.
 5. The automatedcontent labeling system of claim 1 being further configured to enable alabeler of the plurality of labelers to create a nested classificationof an object.
 6. The automated content labeling system of claim 1 beingfurther configured to enable a labeler of the plurality of labelers toidentify an object in the content data using a multi-frame bounding box.7. The automated content labeling system of claim 6 being furtherconfigured to assign a keyframe to the multi-frame bounding box.
 8. Theautomated content labeling system of claim 1 being further configured toenable a labeler of the plurality of labelers to label a text string inthe content data.
 9. The automated content labeling system of claim 1wherein the content data is of a type from the group consisting of:images, textual content, numerical content, audio data, chemicalsignatures, and organic signatures.
 10. A method comprising:registering, by use of a data processor, a plurality of labelers towhich annotation tasks are assigned; populating, by use of the dataprocessor, a labeling queue with content data to be annotated;assigning, by use of the data processor, annotation tasks from thelabeling queue to the plurality of labelers, the annotation tasks havingassociated datasets representing sets of content data to be annotated bythe plurality of labelers; prompting each of the plurality of labelersto begin processing through the datasets and apply labels to objectsidentified in the content data; and providing, by use of the dataprocessor, a segmentation tool enabling the plurality of labelers toconfigure a size of a segment cluster in an image of the content data,and select each segment cluster to be included in a segmentation featurewith a specified object class, the segment clusters including similarlycolored pixels from the image.
 11. The method of claim 10 includingproviding an electronic pen tool and an electronic eraser tool enablinga labeler of the plurality of labelers to adjust boundaries of thesegmentation feature.
 12. The method of claim 10 including providing atool to overwrite the segmentation feature.
 13. The method of claim 10including enabling a labeler of the plurality of labelers to createmultiple instances of object annotations with a same class designation.14. The method of claim 10 including enabling a labeler of the pluralityof labelers to create a nested classification of an object.
 15. Themethod of claim 10 including enabling a labeler of the plurality oflabelers to identify an object in the content data using a multi-framebounding box.
 16. The method of claim 15 including assigning a keyframeto the multi-frame bounding box.
 17. The method of claim 10 includingenabling a labeler of the plurality of labelers to label a text stringin the content data.
 18. The method of claim 10 wherein the content datais of a type from the group consisting of: images, textual content,numerical content, audio data, chemical signatures, and organicsignatures.
 19. A non-transitory machine-useable storage mediumembodying instructions which, when executed by a machine, cause themachine to: register, by use of a data processor, a plurality oflabelers to which annotation tasks are assigned; populate, by use of thedata processor, a labeling queue with content data to be annotated;assign, by use of the data processor, annotation tasks from the labelingqueue to the plurality of labelers, the annotation tasks havingassociated datasets representing sets of content data to be annotated bythe plurality of labelers; prompt each of the plurality of labelers tobegin processing through the datasets and apply labels to objectsidentified in the content data; and provide a segmentation tool enablingthe plurality of labelers to configure a size of a segment cluster in animage of the content data, and select each segment cluster to beincluded in a segmentation feature with a specified object class, thesegment clusters including similarly colored pixels from the image. 20.The non-transitory machine-useable storage medium embodying theinstructions of claim 19 wherein the content data is of a type from thegroup consisting of: images, textual content, numerical content, audiodata, chemical signatures, and organic signatures.